ARGUS Complaint - PICTURE THIS - CAMERA CUSTOMER SERVICE

INVERNESS, ILLINOIS -- I attended a celebrity event recently &took an ARGUS QUICK CLIX digital camera (cheap walmart model). Upon my 72nd photo out of the 117 the camera holds, I was taking a picture of Evander Holifield when the count dropped to zero and all the photos were deleted. Long story short, it has a flaw and so does the companys customer service department. When calling, writing, emailing their customer service, all I had asked for was for them to take a look at the camera in case the photos could be recovered & to contact the event coordinators and get me copies of photos taken by one of the other 30+ media photographers that were present. 1. They wanted me to pay for the shipping of the unit. It's about $12.50 that they could have paid by giving me their FedEx route number and 2. They sent me a web link of a magazine &told me I could copy their 3 or 4 shots.

The company cost for outstanding customer service? $0.39 for a letter or $1.50 for a phone call plus $12.50 for the shipping. Instead I got 3 weeks worth of "we're not doing that" email replys. Less than $15 for them (and with my being a private investigator in need of a new camera), would have generated a sell of a higher end model for my work. I told them that.

No one offers a warranty that covers incidental or consequential damages. So if I am in Hawaii and my camera craps out on the trip home I should expect them to pay for my return to Hawaii to retake the photos? Try making some reasonable demands of them and see how it goes.

Posted by *Brenda* on 2007-01-10:

You say one of the "other" media photographers. Are you telling me you are a media camera and use a "cheap walmart model" camera?

Posted by Anonymous on 2007-01-10:

In this case, you get what you pay for.

Posted by S. on 2007-01-10:

'...with my being a private investigator...' Wha-a-t? You're a private investigator, a media photographer, and buy a camera at WalMart? I'll remember to never hire you if I suspect my spouse is cheating on me. You'll expect payment without pictures to prove what you saw. Here's my email: Dear Argus Camera, Thank you for providing Ms. Young outstanding service. It provided a LOL moment for us on my3cents.

Posted by Anonymous on 2007-01-10:

It's entirely possible that the camera had a hiccup (I love technical terms). Have you connected the camera to your PC to see if the images are really still there?

But why did you decide to test out the Argus brand with a cheap model?

One more thought: You used the internal memory only. That means that your photos would have been what I call email quality. Good for web pages but not good for prints bigger than 2x3.

Posted by Anonymous on 2007-01-10:

There's no use argus-ing with some people.

Posted by LADY G on 2007-01-13:

I use company cameras while out "spying" or my higher end "film" cameras. This cheapy is pocket sized. The other media photographers were from TV stations and several mags. I have since received a few shots from others attending and knew what had happened. But you're right, get what you pay for!!! Fortunately for me, I'm associated with people in the business so hopefully, althought this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, new opportunities for upcomming events will become available. Not all is lost. (Excepting the pictures I was in with a few of the attendees). A flawed camera was understandable. Better than my wedding photos that were tossed when my photographer's car was repo'd with my (and others) originals in the trunk. I won a judgement on the Judge Joe Brown show over that one. So... I'm a little sensitive when it comes to lost pictures.